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Thanks ya'll first day was brutal but today is going much better. Hope I lose enough to be qualified for surgery. Hoping to hear good news this week about an approval from the insurance!

I am sure I could have eaten solids long before 6 weeks. In fact I am sure that most bandsters feel that way. The reason for the graduated diet is not so much for you to progress until you feel that you are ready for solids it is so that your band can heal into place properly. Part of your stomach has been stitched over the band to help prevent a future slip. When you eat solid foods your stomach churns to digest them, this process can disturb the healing and although you won't feel as though there is anything wrong it could lead to a slip in the future. Therefore it is important that you follow the diet that your Dr has given you. If for some reason you think you can't then you should talk to your Dr and ask him/her if it is OK to progress sooner.

As mentioned above most of us felt like they could eat solids earlier than doctors orders. However you should not do it. I asked if I could move to mushies 2 days early and my doctor said Abosulutely NOT. At three weeks I was still on cottage cheese.

Hello everyone, I am scheduled to have my sleeve in September with Dr. Aceves. I have read that most people are different in taking time off, depending on how they feel, etc. I have taken 2 weeks of vacation off from my job, however I have short term disability insurance and they told me that if the doctor says I need more time off, etc that I will be paid for up to a year. (This is good to know, god forbid if any complications happen, etc.) What I wanted to know is, if you werent in a rush to return to work, what reasonable amount of time do you think would be appropriate to take off. I am thinking more along the lines of 4 weeks to allow my body to heal, learn how to eat, etc. Also, for those of you that used Dr. Aceves, do you all think that he would sign my form for me to get 4 weeks off? Im not trying to abuse time off but I work as a nurse and I also work long days and the demands of the job can be very challenging, I just dont want to push myself (especially since my job understands that I am having some type of surgery, they wont fire me or anything like that--of course they cant anyway but im just curious to get some responses. Thanks a million everyone

Hello Everyone, I finally have my surgery date! It's on 1/11...so I'm cool with that, even though school starts back on 1/16. My care coordinator said they don't want me to do anything for a whole week. Well I am going to school on 1/16 regardless! I've read were other bandsters left the hospital the same day and was working out the next day. I know I will be in the hospital for two days at least which is cool, since my std kicks in that day or the next day and I won't have to use any of my vacation time. As for school...it's not up for discussion. I am so glad I chose to go ahead with this...I'm goin in my closet and pull out ALL my cute get-ups right now:heh: . Just to remind myself of the old days and to look forward to the new ones! Be BLESSED, Sheila :argue:

Hi all , i was banded last friday morning , seems to have gone ok . The doctor says she will fill the band in a couple of weeks time . Just drinking the fluids untill then ... takes a bit of getting use to

In two days I will be on a plane heading to San Diego! And on Thursday I will have surgery in Tijuana. Im packing, cleaning, getting everything set for the kiddos (We have five little ones) and ordering stuff I'll need postop so it's here when we get back. Just had to take a moment to stop for a little bit of crazy and say- I am seriously having 85% of my STOMACH permanently removed in three days!!!?? Oh my goodness. It's so weird and scary and exciting at the same time. I'm soooo scared to fly and have surgery. I hope everything goes fine. I'm going to miss my babies so much. Ah, I'm a wreck. Can't wait until this is all over and we are home again...

Yep, I had the same realization. I also realized how often my online friends (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) post about food and post PHOTOS of food. The 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery were the hardest for me, but OH SO WORTH IT!

Being on that two week diet really does make you think I'm on day 5 and its getting a lot better but my first 2 days where bad

Feeling amazing and Im two days from nine weeks out and got on the scale this morning and seen that im down another 10lbs and at 268. Thats 51lbs in 9 weeks so amazed hy the results wish I would have done this sooner. Any pain, emotional days, frustrations have all been worth it! [ATTACH]37895[/ATTACH]

First question : I'm about 4 weeks post op and have hit my first stall. I have lost 21 pound so far but that was all in my first two weeks. I haven't lost any weight in the last two weeks. How long will this last, and what can I do to jump start it? Second question : I must admit I haven't be exercising as much as I should. I brought a treadmill and low and behold there were no screws to put it together, so right now I'm In the process of waiting for the company to send me new screws but I don't want to sit around and wait to much longer. So how long did u guys wait before you went to the gym? I don't wanna just go to get on the treadmill I will like to do other exercises as well. My doctor said at this point I can lift up to 10 pound. Thanks in advance guys!

My doctor have me 1 week of liquids 1 weeks purée / mushie food 1 week soft /semi solids. Then after that I go straight solids. I've been leery of solids but I tried a few small pieces of chicken last night and did fine. I got full a lot faster I noticed. But most of my diet I still keep soft or semi solid. It seems all docs are different.

I looked into WLS a few years ago, but my insurance didn't cover it, so that was that. A couple weeks ago, my wife told me that someone at her work is having WLS and that her insurance covers it. I've always had her insurance as my secondary insurance, but it never occured to me that they would cover it even if mine didn't. I called the clinic that her co-worker had hers done at, and inquired about my insurance situation. Sure enough, if my primary insurance doesn't cover, the secondary will. That clinic is out of network, but told me that they will bill as out of network, but then for my co-pay they will only charge me as much as if I was in-network. I made an appointment. I completed my paperwork and faxed it in a few days ago. I was scheduled to have a phone appointment tomorrow, and then a meeting with the surgeon a week from tomorrow. The clinic called me today and said they had a cancellation tomorrow and wanted to know if I wanted to move my meeting with the surgeon to then. I'm super excited to meet with the surgeon tomorrow and get my process started. I'm hoping that my secondary insurance doesn't have a 6 month process the way a lot of them do. As for my story, I've been overweight a good portion of my life. When I was 17, I was helping my dad move an 1800 pound safe off a truck and it fell off the truck and onto my foot. It resulted in a 10 day hospital stay and amputation of my foot. Even with that, I've always been active but a few years later was north of 300 pounds. A few years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes and also borderline high blood pressure. I've been trying, without success, to get some weght off to keep my diabetes in check. A year and a half ago, I woke one morning with incredible pain in my back. I went to my PCP, who told me essentially to quit being a baby and go home and walk it off, and if I wasn't feeling better in a few days to a week, then come back and see him. Later that afternoon, I went to my chiropractor, who advised me that with my symptoms I should go to the ER. I did and was diagnosed with cauda equina, which is essentially when a disc ruptures and presses into the nerves in your back. I was immediately transported to Swedish in Seattle (about an hour and a half away) and that night had surgery on my back. My neurosurgen told me that if I hadn't had surgery within 72 hours, she is pretty confident I would have been paralyzed. I ended up with some significant nerve damage in my legs, but I was lucky because I seeked out prompt medical attention so I can still walk and have use of my lower extremities. I do still have a lot of nerve pain in my legs, and right now my neurosurgen is trying to address that. Every day that I have to be able to walk and play with my kids is a blessing however. Now I'm hoping to get rid of this weight so I can be even more active and involved in their lives. Wish me luck at my meeting with my neurosurgen tomorrow! I do have my reservations however, because I'm going to Puget Sound Surgical Center, which, for those of you who have been following, is where iggychick got her sleeve done. However, her doctor was Dr. Billing and I'm meeting with Dr. Crouthamel. It will be interesting knowing iggychick's story, how forthcoming he is when I ask about complications, not only his, but of the clinic as a whole. It will show me how trustworthy Dr. Crouthamel is.

I was told only 15 minutes and my elliptical Fromm week 2-4 then normal exercise.

I had my surgery on Nov. 26th so I am almost five weeks post op. I have been doing great with no problems until today. I woke up and noticed my port site incision was a little tender and as the day has gone on, it has become red and more tender. I noticed that when I pressed on it, there was just a tiny bit of discharge. It did not look like pus but, it was a darkish milky red. Is it possible for infection to set in at this late date or could it be from over doing it? I will call my doctors office on Monday since they are closed now. Do you think this is something that I need to have checked out before then or is this normal?

i had/have pain in my left shoulder... i asked my dr. last week what it was from and he told me it was from then pulling right there and under the left rib..so it could possibly be from that!!!

I have 3.2 CC in my 4.0CC band -- and Lately, i can eat bread (slices of the low carb bread) without a problem... as long as i chew and take my time Like today i had a ham sandwich (with FF miracle whip) for lunch. I didnt eat the crust, but the bread went down just fine. Yesteray i had a bannana nut muffin... I ate it over the course of two hours... but no problems with it either. I didnt used to be able to eat any bread... Is this normal? I dont think there is anyway i streched something out becuase I am a pretty good bandster, but it makes me worried that the breat seems to be going down without issue. I just had a fill about 3 and 1/2 weeks ago. I just get paranoid about hurting my little pouch and wonder why I am having so little restriction with such a recent fill and with so many CCs in my band.

I was May 10th. started 264 surgery was 242 today at 207 i am on my second stall since surgery. First one later a week, and I am at 12 days on the current stall. It suuuucks!

I started at 401 (May 2017). I had to do a year of supervised diet. I was 358 on surgery day. I was 329 on May 31. But I’ve only lost like 12/13 pounds since then. I was 316 yesterday, back to 317 today. I feel like I’ve been back and forth for the last 3/4 weeks. I feel like since I was heavier, I would lose quicker. Im thankful for what I have lost...but worried it won’t work.

My 12 year old niece and I used to go to the nail salon together every two weeks pre covid. In between we text each other cool nail designs that people posted online or find cool decals and stuff for the holidays. Would someone take her to get her nails done once in a while if you gave her the money? Not sure if you are into this or if it would be affordable to do all the time. The salon I go to does her nails and toes for ten bucks because I’m there every two weeks anyways and her tiny nails don’t require much work. I just tip extra when they do any difficult nail art.

Hello all, This is my first time here after being referred by a fellow patient at my clinic. I am getting my lapband on Wednesday December 13th and am half excited and half nervous.:omg: My doctor is Dr. Cobourne at the THE SURGICAL WEIGHT LOSS CENTRE in Toronto, Ontario. I have been on Optifast for almost 3 weeks and have had a few slips due to my hamburger addiction.:think I have just booked a trip to Mexico for our winter vacation on January 12 - 18th. I know this is quite soon after my surgery but we are going to a place we've been before and I know the food is great and being that I should be on soft food by then, I should be okay. My mom thinks I'm nuts though.:nervous Let's all take a vote - am I a crazy canuck or not. Let me know.:clap2:

I tried milk of magnesia for the constipation but that's at the bottom of the list of things I ever want to ingest again! I hated it so tried prune juice, and that worked fine for me. I have one of those little individual cans a couple of times a week and everything's good. Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly...just be gentle with yourself and give yourself time to heal and rest. Emily

Hello, I am pre-op and I have a “habit” I need to change. Right now, my 10 year old niece and I meet over Zoom once a week and simultaneously try a snack from a different part of the world. I ship it from Amazon the week before so we both get it in time. I’m wondering what else we can do. This bonding and shared experience has been really great during COVID and I don’t want to lose the shared experience, but it’s not sustainable as I approach surgery. I’ve thought of toys as a replacement, but neither of us really need toys every week. Books would be great but I don’t want to pressure her into reading by a deadline or anything like that, especially while she is in school. What else could we do that we could share, without mixing unhealthy foods into it? Thank you all for answering my questions that I’ve posed so far!

It is very encouraging to read that there is a stall within 3-4 weeks after your Sleeve surgery. I had my surgery on 11-20-09 and lost total of 23 lbs ib 12/11/09. This morning I weighed myself and found that I had gained 4 lbs. I must admit that I haven't gotten all Protein in daily, about 32-40 oz of Water, and very little exercise. I know I must get protein, water, and exercise in daily. After reading most of the posts today, I am truly inspired to restart my plan and stay on it. You are right it is a lifestyle change. Change is hard, not making excuses, but I have been eating all the wrong foods, not drinking water, or exercising for 5 years or so. Since I had my surgery I get on my treadmill and only able to walk at normal speed about 7 minutes. It is very discouraging because I should be able to do more. I eat less food but have to remember to chew my food thoroughly and take small bites. Didn't do that before, so I have to remind myself to do it. Getting my protein in is the hardest of them all, because I am not a milk drinker, dont like any of the Protein drinks, and having a hard time processing meat. I am really constipated and have not been able to go to the bathroom for BM for days at a time. I am not a big water drinker, I start out really good in the morning, but by afternoon not doing so well. Any suggestions on foods that will allow me to get a large amount of protein. I am going to do better with water. Also, any suggestions on helping me get more cardio in and doing better on my treadmill. Mostly have cramps in my calves after walking for 2-3 minutes. Thanks

I was sleeved Dec. 1st. Exactly like you first week I lost 11 lbs. I'm in the first day of my second week, and I seemed to have stalled already. I did so a little cheating, I ate some refried Beans the 4th day, mashed potatoes the 5 day, and a few crackers the 6th day. I haven't been drinking that much water, but I have had some sugar free juices, and lite juices. I'm afraid the lite juices my have too much sugar in them. I've only walked 3 days out of 7 outside, but I did walk over a mile all three times. And rain kept me from walking the other 2 days. I took it easy the first 2 days. Dunno what the deal is..maybe cheating did it for me. But don't sound like you did at all. I wish I knew. Maybe some of our sisters will tell us what we are doing wrong. Judy:001_huh: